Damage to removable or non-removable media may prevent access to content on the media. Removable media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc, are especially susceptible to damage due to increased handling, which increases the likelihood of scratches, fingerprints, or stains. Removable media and non-removable media are used for many applications such as distributing computer software or storing program data. Damage to the media may render portions of the media unreadable and/or render the media unusable for its intended purpose. For example, if a scratch interrupts the ability to read a sector on a DVD, the DVD may stall, stop, or skip over the unreadable sector.
The use of data recovery methods may minimize the effects of damaged media or media content. However, the media content may not be recoverable by these methods. For example, error correction codes that attempt to re-read the damaged content are known. However, the errors may exceed the error correction capability. Sometimes, the recovery method may simply skip over the damaged portion. This may not be acceptable in some applications. Also, the recovery method may cause excessive delays in attempting to correct the problem. Long delays in time-sensitive applications essentially render the media unusable. For example, users that run a game from a removable media, such as a DVD, often play against each other live over a network (e.g. a football game). In such a game, a loss of continuous play defeats the intended real-time purpose and therefore may render the media essentially unusable. A backup of the media content typically requires making a copy of the entire content because the user may not be able to anticipate damage to a specific portion of the media. Also, if the copy is not made prior to the damage, this solution may not be available for the damaged portion once the damage occurs. If existing data recovery methods fail, the user typically must replace the media.
Tools that can increase media or gaming reliability are valuable to any industry that uses media. It may be desirable to have a mechanism that provides media reliability for previously damaged media or for any subsequently damaged media. It may be desirable that the mechanism is viable as an alternative to or in addition to existing data recovery methods.